


Future Now

by BendingAlchemist101



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Multi, Seeing the future, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-03-15
Updated: 2012-04-28
Packaged: 2017-11-01 23:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/362469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BendingAlchemist101/pseuds/BendingAlchemist101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team and some of the mentors are transported to a room to view one moment from each of their futures. Their mission? To change the bad that they see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Essence

The silence that the moderately large room had to offer was ended by screaming. Seven screams to be exact. Followed by the screams was the sound of seven bodies hitting the heavily carpeted floor.

The oldest of the seven was the first to react, reaching for his bow and an arrow from the quiver on his back only to find neither where they should be.

"'The hell?" Roy asked rubbing his head and looking around. He noted that the members of 'Baby Justice' were slowly sitting up and reaching for their weapons of choice. He also noted that all of them, including himself, were in their civies, Robin reaching inside his pocket for his sunglasses that Batman made him wear in front of the team.

Wally stood up and looked around his eyes landing on a television set in the front of the room. The TV, while quite big, also had the features of a TV from when his parents were kids.

Suddenly there was a flash of light and seven adults were standing next to the teens.

"Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris?"

"Wally?"

"Roy!"

"Ollie. Dinah."

"Silence."

Batman was standing in the middle of the room, his hand clasped around a piece of paper.

"We have been brought to this room for a reason, and if you would all be quiet for just enough time for me to read this letter and explain, the sooner we can get out. Now, any objections?" Batman looked around the room as people began to sit down on the couches provided.

Batman cleared his throat and read,

"Hey, there Batsy-"

Wally snorted and quickly changed it to a coughing fit from the look Batman gave him.

"How are things in good ol' 2011? I'm sending this from the distant future from an island in the south Pacific because, hey, maybe something might change because of what I've decided to do and I won't be stuck with Harper-"

Roy looked up at the mention of his last name. Did the person mean him?

"And an alien princess. In any case, I've sent this letter and a specter named Essence, who will show up once you are done reading this letter, to show you some moments from your futures. In fact, it's any moment you choose, but you can only choose one."

"Isn't that, I don't know, pretty stupid?" Artemis asked raising an eyebrow at the piece of paper in the Dark Knight's hand.

"Yes," Batman agreed narrowing his eyes at the letter.

"Yes, it is stupid, but it should be effective, see, the future sucks. A lot. By showing you these moments you might be able to change some things that could make out bit of the universe that much nicer.

"Happy viewing!... Or not, depending on what moments you choose…

-Red Hood"

Batman's eyes narrowed at the name. The Red Hood had been the name the Joker had used before he became, well, the Joker. Robin noticed the name as well, but did not react.

Why would an old Gotham villain be showing them moments from their futures and why did it seem like Roy was apart of all this?

Suddenly there was a light that engulfed the room and a woman with white hair and wearing all black appeared.

"You are the ones to see their futures, correct?

The occupants of the room nodded, noting the black aura that seemed to move around the woman. Another thing was her eyes, or lack thereof.

"My name is Essence and I will be here to do the task that the Red Hood and his friends have given. I owe them after they helped with the defeating of the murders of the All Caste."

"Well, the sooner we do this, the sooner we get out of here, right, Batsy?" Barry grinned and nudged Batman who glared at the speedster and then looked at Essence.

"Very well, let's begin."


	2. Dick Grayson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The double "" means that something is being shown on the screen. Enjoy!

Robin looked at the others in the room. Why were they brought here? And who was the Red Hood and why did he want them to know their futures?

"Robin," Essence pulled the young teen out of his thoughts and back to the room. "Red Hood asked me to have you go first, as you are, and these are his words, 'a dick of an older brother.'"

Robin paled at her words. Older brother? Why would I be a villain's older brother? And the emphasis she put on dick? Am I supposed to reveal my secret identity? Man, I hope Bruce won't flip his lid if that's the case…

"So, um, about the moment," Robin looked up at Essence with hope slightly in his eyes. "Will I ever have kids?"

"I am not sure of the answer to your question. I only am able to show the moments on the screen."

"Oh," Robin said looking away.

"Maybe," Wally stepped in, "she could show you a kid that you raised? It's just a suggestion."

Robin grinned slightly, "Yeah, I want to see that." He looked over at Essence, "Can I see that?"

Essence gave a half nod and turned a dial on the TV causing it to glow an eerie blue before a picture began to form.

""A young boy about eleven or twelve walks up to a row of headstones in a cemetery in the old part of Gotham. When he arrives at a joint stone he kneels in the grass, fireflies floating around in the summer air.""

Robin's eyes widen behind his sunglasses as he realizes where the boy is. His parents' graves. It takes all he has to not walk over and sit next to the man who has become like a father to him and hide himself in his chest.

""The writing on the stone reads:

Mary Grayson John Grayson  
1975 – 2005 1974 – 2005  
Beloved Parents and Friends

The young boy wipes off the leaves on the headstones, showing that autumn was indeed on its way.

"I know, you're not who you were expecting." The boy looks away and scoffs, "I'm never expected. Or wanted for that matter."

He looks back at the graves, "But your son, Dick,"-""

"Wait, does that mean what I think it means?" Artemis said looking at Robin. "Are you Dick Grayson?" Robin looked at Batman and nodded pulling his glasses off.

"Told ya we'd laugh about it some day," Dick grinned at her, Artemis's eyes bugging slightly out of her head.

"You… But- freshman, I…" Artemis slid down in her seat and looked at Batman. "Does that mean that billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne is the goddamn Batman?"

Batman smirked but said nothing as the revelation of secret identities finally sunk in.

"Shit," Artemis whispered shaking her head as the members of the League (who all knew) laughed.

"""…Your son, Dick, he… He's made me feel wanted in a family where I'm practically hated. I just wanted to let you know, because who would you tell…" The boy looked away for a moment.

"I wish that your son was my father, instead of the one I'm stuck with. He's helped me so much, made me see that I am allowed to be myself, and… I can never thank him enough for that."""

Bruce wasn't dumb, he could tell just from his features that the boy was his. Why on Earth would he ever make his son feel this way, what had he done wrong?

Dick was thinking along the same lines too. Why was this boy, who was so obviously Bruce's, wish that he was his father instead? Bruce could be difficult, but wishing that somebody else entirely was your father had a big reason behind it.

Then Dick began to think about what he had asked to see and it clicked.

He had raised this boy, he didn't know from what age, but he had raised him. He had made a young boy believe that he was a better father than the man who was raising him now. That made his insides churn. Who could ever think he was a good father, when he couldn't even help the boy love his own father?

""A branch snapped behind him and the young boy looked behind him to see who was possibly watching. When he saw nobody he turned back to the graves and pulled a piece of paper out.

"I drew this; it's your son when he first was taken into my father's care and now. I just thought you might want to know what he looks like then and now, to see how he's grown up. You should be proud, he's done a lot. A lot more than anyone ever asked. Hell, he took me in when my father went missing."

The boy stood up and placed the folded up piece of paper on one of the headstones and placed a rock on top so that it wouldn't blow away.

He turned to leave when a figure came from the darkness with a flashlight.

"Damian!"""

Dick looked at the TV more closely, was that him?

""The boy, or Damian, was lifted off the ground into a tight hug.

"Ugh-ack- Dick, gettoffofme!" Damiann managed say from the tight hold the older man had hugging him.""

The room froze. This was their first glimpse into proof that this future was for them when it showed older Dick's face. It was contorted in fear and, at the same time, happiness.

"""Sorry, little bro," Dick said setting Damian back on the ground but still keeping a grip on the younger boy, as if afraid he was going to run. "But when Bruce called me and said you had run away and that you had turned off your tracking device, well, we all were worried. Hell, Tim even called your mom to see if she would have any idea."

Damian looked appalled, "Drake called my moth- I mean, he called Talia?" Damian asked looking away. How dare Drake call that woman, after everything she had put him through?""

"Wait," Dick said, turning to Bruce, "did that kid just say who I think he said his mother was?"

Bruce was in shock, or at least in as much shock as the Batman allowed himself to show. This child could not have been anything but a ploy to destroy his barriers that he had spent years building. Something was bubbling on the surface, something that made him realize why he must have pawned the child off to Dick. He was an unnecessary distraction, one he couldn't afford.

"""Yeah," Dick said gripping Damian's shoulder looking into his eyes, "he called her. Bruce had tried to convince him not to, but Tim argued that if it meant getting you back, it shouldn't matter."

"My own father didn't even want to find me." Damian said avoiding Dick's eyes.

Dick glared slightly at the younger boy, "Damian al Ghul-Wayne- no do not give me that look that is your name- Bruce did want to find you. You are his son and-"""

Roy and the rest of the League looked at Batman with a look of betrayal.

"Did Dick just say what I think he did?" Roy said glaring at Bruce, "That the son of Batman is also the grandson of Ra's al Ghul? How stupid can you get?"

Batman said nothing, just looked at the ground.

How could he? Talia must have drugged him. That had to be it.

…But what if it wasn't?

"""Well what if I don't want to be?" Damian shouted, trying as hard as he could to keep the tears from welling in his eyes. "What instead, I'd like to have a father who cares about me, and actually trains me instead of just yelling at me about what I did wrong? Why couldn't you have been my dad?" Damian's voice had grown to almost screaming.

Dick was kneeling beside Damian, shocked. Why couldn't he be Damian's father? Because-

"Because then you wouldn't be Damian." He said pulling the eleven year old into a hug.

"But you care about me more," Damian said into Dick's shoulder.

"Not necessarily, we just bonded in a way that you and Bruce haven't yet." Dick pulled away from the hug and looked Damian in the eyes, "I do care about you, Damian, so much. But I'm not your father, I'm just your brother."

Damian wiped his nose with his sleeve, "What difference does it make. You both have abandoned me. But father does it more often."

Dick sighed and looked at the ground and then back at Damian, an idea forming in his head. "How about this, I still live in the apartment I live in, but I talk to Bruce about me training you. Does that sound like a plan?"

Damian thought for a moment, "Will you promise to come by the manor even when it's not training?"

"Sure, now let's get you back home before Bruce decides to call the commissioner."""

The television screen went black as everybody soaked in what they had just seen.

Dick would be a good father, but not to his own son. Batman would have a son with Talia al Ghul and the kid probably knew twelve different ways to kill someone with a spork.

Barry was the first to speak, "Well, I guess we all know what needs changing there." Everybody turned and looked at him with faces of confusion.

"Bruce needs to be a better father, and no." Barry said turning to the Batman who had opened his mouth to speak. "It doesn't matter who his mother is. You will have a son, Bruce, embrace that." Barry finished, putting his arm around Iris who leaned into him.

Bruce looked away from the couple and sighed. Barry was right; it wasn't fair that he would have a son, just to pawn him off to somebody who could deal with him. He reminded himself of Clark, and that was not something he wanted.

Essence watched the scene unfolding around her and decided it was time to begin the next moment.

"Roy Harper," her eerie voice made him jump slightly as she turned to him, "you are next. What would you like to view?"

Roy looked around at everybody and then looked at the floor he said, "One of the saddest moments of my life, just so I know that everything else that ever happens will be better." He said leaning towards the screen, preparing himself for the worst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place some time after Secrets, so nothing big there. The scene that they saw, however takes place a little bit after 'Batman and Robin' #5.
> 
> Also, I didn't want to confuse anyone (but I probably did…) but the whole "You will have a son…" part came from the canon of the YJ Roleplay on tumblr, where Barry and Iris were pregnant, but then Iris lost the baby and Barry came to the conclusion that he probably wouldn't be able to conceive (which will make their chapters that much better for them), so Bruce hating on his son made Barry quite peeved at the Bat.
> 
> -Sela


	3. Roy Harper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beware, this might get a little sad...

“A sad moment,” Artemis asked looking at him, “why not your happiest moment?”

Roy looked at her with an odd expression, “Because then I know nothing would ever amount to that moment, except for that moment.”

He looked at Essence and nodded in a yes-this-is-what-I-want way. The TV glowed the eerie blue and the moment began.

""Roy Harper walked up the street of a surprisingly sunny Star City towards a flower shop which would be his first destination. He walked into the small shop, called the Shorewood Florist, and the person sitting at the counter looked up from her book. That is to say, the young girl sitting on the desk. When she saw Roy her face lit up.

“Uncle Roy!” The girl jumped off the counter, her blonde hair bouncing as she did so, her green eyes smiling with the rest of her.""

 

Ollie looked at the girl on the screen and the young, blonde archer next to him. The resemblance was uncanny; this little girl had to be at least related to Artemis.

""“Are you going to visit Lian? Can I go with you to visit my mommy? Daddy hasn’t taken me in a while.” Her eyes showing a sad hopefulness that Roy didn’t like.

She hopped off the counter and he picked her up. “Of course you can come with, but first do you know where Dinah keeps the daisies?”

“Going to see Lian?” A third voice entered the room as Dinah walked in carrying in a bouquet of freshly cut daisies.

Roy smiled and reached for the bundle, “Thanks, Di, and, yeah, I am.” 

The small girl piped up, “And I’m going with to visit my mom!”

Dinah smiled sadly and pulled another flower from a vase next to her, “Well, then, how about you take this for her?” She held the flower out to the girl. “This is a primrose. It’s what your mom had with her when she married your dad, and what he brought her when she was in the hospital after having you.”

The small girl reached for the flower and grinned, “Thank you, Aunt Dinah!” 

Dinah reached out and ruffled the girl’s hair, “You’re welcome, Hayden.”""

“Hayden,” Artemis whispered to herself. “I wanted to name my daughter, if I had one, Hayden.”

Ollie spooked her out of her thoughts by saying, “What was that, kiddo?” 

Artemis felt the eyes of the room on her, “N-nothing, Ol-Uncle Ollie.”

""Hayden turned around in the grip Roy had on her and pointed to the door. “Come on, Uncle Roy! We need to go now!”

Roy laughed but it didn’t meet his eyes, “Alright, Hay-bay, we’re going. See you later, Dinah.” Roy said waving to his almost mother as he and Hayden exited the store.

“Roy,” Dinah called out the door and the red head turned around.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t let her stay too long, okay?” Dinah said nodding Hayden.

Roy nodded, “Sure thing.”

When they arrived at their destination they were able to walk right in. After all, cemeteries don’t close the gates until after dusk.""

“A cemetery, you took a young girl to visit her mother in a cemetery?” Wally looked at Roy, who was looking at the rest of the Arrow family. 

“What’s up?” Wally asked when nobody else would.

Ollie cleared his throat, slightly pale, “We… We came to the conclusion that Hayden is Artemis’s daughter. They look exactly alike, apart from the eyes, and--”

“-And,” Artemis continued, “I have always wanted to have a daughter and name her Hayden.”

Wally slowly put two and two together, a bit slower than everyone else in the room, and paled. 

“No, Artemis, you can’t mean that…” M’Gann spoke up for the first time, tears in her eyes.

Artemis looked at the ground, “Yup, in Roy’s future, I’m dead.” She turned towards the boy she had replaced, “You must be happy about that.”

Roy looked away, not believing that she could think that he wanted her dead, but Dinah took the conversation to a different tone.

“Maybe, if we continued watching, we could find out why this has all happened.”

Everyone silently agreed.

""Roy walked with Hayden, who he had put down and now was holding hands with, to a section of headstones under a tree.""

“The Queen section of the cemetery,” Ollie muttered.

""Hayden looked up at Roy, her eyes silently asking a question, he nodded and she ran off the rest of the way, dropping in front of a newer headstone.""

Artemis sucked in her breath as she saw the headstone, but not because it was hers…

 

""Lian Harper  
2012 – 2022  
Beloved Daughter

“Hi, Lian!” Hayden said to the small headstone. “I’m here with Uncle Roy, we came to visit you and my mommy. How are you? Did whoever runs things up there let you get a dog? I know how much you wanted one.”

Roy reached the top of the hill to hear that last part. He didn’t need to hear the fact that he hadn’t allowed his princess a dog, not when he already knew he wouldn’t be able to end this visit without dropping Hayden with Dinah and heading to the nearest bar.

“Hayden,” she looked up at her uncle, “how about you go talk to your mom for a bit, okay?”

Hayden smiled in a way that reminded Roy of her mother.

“Okay, Uncle Roy, but you have to come say ‘hello’ too; otherwise Mommy will think you don’t care about her!” Hayden jumped up and ran to a headstone a few down.

Roy sighed and kneeled in front of Lian’s grave, placing the flowers in front of him.. “Hey, Princess, happy birthday. How are you?”"" 

By this point most of the women were beginning to cry and Roy looked close.

""Roy didn’t wait for the answer that would never come and continued, “I’m sorry I haven’t visited in a while, I’ve been traveling a bit. Do you remember Jason? He was your Uncle Bruce’s second Robin. And Kory? Well, I’ve been traveling with the two of them.”""

Dick furrowed his brows, a second Robin? What happened that caused Bruce to need another one? He thought to himself, then he remembered the previous moment and how he had grown up. Was Jason his replacement?

""Roy wiped at the tears welling in his eyes as he continued, “You can’t be fourteen already, you just can’t. I remember,” Roy looked up to keep the tears from falling, “I remember when your mom first showed you to me. I couldn’t believe that I could have created something so precious, so small. Something that trusted me so easily.” 

Roy looked away, as if avoiding eye contact, “I saw your mom about a month ago, when I was in Bosnia with Jason and Kory, she… She said she had been to visit you a while ago and to tell you ‘happy birthday’ from her.

“I know that you thought your mother had abandoned you to me, but God, Lian, if you had known, just how hard it was for her to give you up…”

He sighed again, “I… I almost joined you, up there. Two weeks ago I was in Gotham, helping your Uncle Dick with Killer Croc and well… I almost gave up, figured I could finally hold you in my arms again, and… I almost left,” Roy laughed humorlessly, “but you would have kicked my butt and told me that I got fat in the hospital, or something.”""

Despite the situation, Roy snorted. If there had been any doubt as to who the child belonged to it was wiped away by older Roy’s words about his daughter.

""Roy looked up at the sky, it was growing slightly darker, birds flying over head.

He looked back at the tiny marking, “Lian, honey, I wish you were here. I… I know you didn’t know this, but the day after you…” Roy choked, “well, I was going to take you to the Humane Society, so that we could find a stray, maybe one that fit our personalities, and makes you wonder how you could ever think of life without…”

He was silent for quite some time after that, he didn’t know how much time had passed until he looked over at Hayden only to see her leaning against Artemis’s grave, the sun setting in the distance. 

Roy took one last look at his daughter’s grave, his voice caught in his throat, “I love you, etai yazi, don’t you ever forget that. Also, keep an eye on your Aunt Artemis, because I know she’ll do the same for you.”""

Artemis nodded jerkily , the tear streaming down her face.

""He walked over to where his surrogate niece was and realized she wasn’t just leaning against the headstone, she was asleep. As if she had fallen asleep with her mother singing a silent lullaby.

He carefully picked up the small girl was and turned to the grave and whispered, as to not wake Hayden, “Look after her for me, Artemis, just like you did on that day.”

Artemis Crock-Rayner  
1995 – 2022  
Smile, breathe and go slowly""

“Oh, my God,” Dinah choked out. Two children whom she had come to care for wouldn’t have the good future every parent wishes for their children and it hurt.

Roy was seething. Whoever did this… Killed his daughter and a woman who had a child before they had even begun to live, was going to pay.

Essence decided it would be best to continue before anybody demanded that they be able to leave, before they had to see a sad future as well. But before she could speak a note appeared on the coffee table in the middle of the room.


	4. Wally West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speedsters and Irey/Damian ahead :)

Batman stood up and picked the letter off the table and began to read,

"Hello, people of the past, this isn't Red Hood, instead this is Arsenal. I just wanted to explain a few things as to what happens, so that it can be changed.

"Firstly, Artemis and Lian were killed in a battle against Electrocutioner when he set off a device to destroy Star City. I had left Lian in the care of Artemis for obvious reasons. She could protect her.

I believed she would be safe. I was wrong. The house they were at was destroyed by forces outside our control. But, now that you know this, I can tell you to not leave them at the old Queen Manor, no matter how out of the line of fire it is. Hell, it would just be easier if the two were to stay in Metropolis, like Kyle- that's Kyle Rayner, Artemis's husband and Green Lantern- had suggested and everything would have been fine.

Please change the future, so that the me of a alternate time line will never have to know the pain of losing his daughter. Please.

Sincerely,

Roy Harper, Arsenal."

Everyone was silent at the end of the letter. Roy told them how to change the future so that less people would die and by God they were going to do it.

Wally chose that moment and looked over at Artemis, who had regained some of the color that had left her face and smirked, "Hey," she looked over at him, "at least you now know that you'll marry a Green Lantern, that's pretty cool."

In spite of herself Artemis snorted with a bit of laughter.

Ollie looked over at Essence, placing a hand around Artemis's shoulders, "Could we please begin the next moment?"

Essence nodded and turned to the couch that held the speedsters and Iris.

"Kid Flash, you are next. What is it you would like to see?"

Wally looked at everybody and smiled slightly, "I know that Roy's logic on his choosing of a sad moment was good, but I think I want to see something happy." He looked up at Essence, "A happy moment with my friends and family?"

Essence turned the knob once more and the picture began.

"""…Happy birthday dear Jai and Irey, happy birthday to you!" People around a table sang as two teenagers, a boy and a girl with black and red hair respectively, blew out the candles on a cake in front of them.

A woman with shoulder length black hair turns to a man with red hair and a large grin and asks jokingly, "Will there be enough cake for everyone?"

He turns to her and laughs, "Probably not, after all, Jai may not have my powers, but he certainly has my metabolism."""

Iris groaned and laughed, "Now you'll know how I feel when I have to feed you and your Uncle." Wally laughed, but Iris's statement shut him up. If it was already hard enough to find enough food for him to eat, how would he deal with a kid who also shared it?

Barry, however, was in serious thought. If Wally was able to have a kid, or two seeing as the girl shared similar features as Wally, would he and Iris be able to conceive?

""The woman laughed, "That he does, it almost surprises me when he eats more than Irey."

A man next to them laughed, "You should see it when Irey is at the manor, Alfred nearly has a heart attack every time he sees her."""

Dick grinned, "Hey, how about that? Older me is there with you."

Wally also grinned, "Well, yeah, if those are my kids, which I'm assuming they are, you would probably be, like, a godfather or something."

Artemis and Roy looked at each other and Artemis shook her head as Roy laughed, "Those kids are doomed." Roy said.

""The woman with black haired turned back to the two teenagers and gasped slightly, "Wait, don't start opening presents, I forgot-"

The teenage girl was out of her seat and next to the woman in two seconds, holding a something out to her.

"Your camera, Mom?" The girl- Irey- smiled as she continued, "But, really, aren't we a little old for you to still be taking pictures when we open our gifts?"

A man with black hair spoke up, "Come on, Irey, I still take pictures when Hayden opens her presents."

Irey rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but come on, Uncle Kyle, Hayden is still thirteen. Jai and I are sixteen!"

Wally turned his head to the woman and muttered, "Quit reminding me." The woman laughed and agreed, "I know, I always feel so old when they say that."

A boy with shaggy black hair and piercing blue eyes looked up from talking to the other boy- Jai- and said, "You're not old, Mrs. West, you're only what…" He looked to Jai, who replied,

"Thirty-three," he said grinning at his mom.""

Iris looked at Wally with a slight glare, "Young man, do you know what that means?"

Wally shook his head, but he had a feeling she was going to tell him.

"You had those children when you were seventeen. Seventeen! I thought your uncle and I raised you better than that!"

Wally looked to Barry for help, but he too was looking at him with a look of disappointment.

"Can we continue watching, before you both rip my head off? It hasn't happened yet!" Wally pleaded with his aunt and uncle.

""The boy with shaggy hair nodded his head, "Yeah, I mean, Conner is older than that, and he doesn't complain about how old I am."

A man, who could only be an older Conner spoke up, "Yeah, but Chris, you're more like my younger brother than a son, so I don't have to complain. It would be like Dick complaining about Damian over there," he gestured to the boy Irey had just sat back down next to, "giving him grey hairs."""

The Conner in the room looked more at the screen. He, too, was raising a boy that wasn't his, and…Was he wearing glasses?

"""Which he has," Dick muttered under his breath, Conner grinned, being the only one to hear.

"Alright," Wally spoke up, "we're all old farts, especially Jay and Barry," Wally grinned at the two men standing against the counter and glared at him. "Well, mostly Barry."

Barry looked at him, "And how exactly am I older than Jay?"

A young man with brown hair and gold eyes next to him snorted, "I don't know, maybe because you're about to become a great-grandfather?"

Barry blushed and looked at the young man, "Shuddup, kid." Everybody laughed.""

The Barry in the room however was staring wide eyed at the screen. He was not only a father in the future, but almost a great-grandfather. How was that possible?

Iris was thinking around the same lines as her husband. How was it possible for them to be grandparents in that time frame if they weren't even parents yet?

""Wally laughed and was across the room in no time, pulling the young man into a headlock, "Yeah, Bart, don't tease the old man, he might hit you over the head with his cane!"""

Everyone in the room, sans the Bat and Barry, who was grumbling about unloving nephews, was laughing. It looked like sixteen years of raising twins wouldn't change Wally that much, something they were happy about.

""Bart tried to pull out of the grip, "C'mon, Wally, gerroff!" He failed miserably.

Wally laughed and the woman with black hair finally said, "Alright, boys, you know the rules, no powers in the kitchen and no roughhousing."

Both men groaned, "But he started it!"

A woman- undoubtedly Iris- glared from her place at the table, "We don't care who started it, Linda is finishing it. Now if you would both pretend to be the responsible adults you are, we would like to get on with the party."

Wally released Bart and slapped him on the back and went back to Linda's side.

Linda turned on her camera and looked at Jai and Irey, "Alright, you can start opening your presents."

The opening of presents went by in a whirl of paper and bags, the twins sometimes stopping to show something to their mother.

"Dad," Wally turned to his daughter and was by her side in under a second.

"Yeah, Princess?"

Irey made a face at the nickname and handed him something. A necklace with small, clear stones dotting the whole thing.

"It's from Uncle Roy, Jason, and Kory. Look, Uncle Roy said that the stones come from a cave in south east Bali and that it's really rare."""

Ollie turned to his ward and grinned, "Looks like you're still traveling the world, with," he picked up the first note from off the table and read, "'an alien princess' and who appears to be a Gotham-ite. You sure know how to choose them." Roy looked at the note and shrugged.

'Anything to keep my mind off Lian, most likely.' Roy thought to himself.

""Wally looked at the necklace wearily when Dick spoke up, "It's not going to kill her, Wally. Roy and Kory would never let Jason do anything like that. And he certainly wouldn't try to kill a teenager, who, in case you've forgotten, is the same age he was when he was killed."""

"Wait," Wally spoke up, "I'm confused-"

Artemis interrupted, "That's news to me."

Wally glared at her before continuing, "Dick just said that this Jason guy was killed. How can he still be alive if he had been killed?"

A note appeared on the table next to the others, Batman picked it up and read it:

"Superboy pretty much Falcon punched the whole of reality, add a little magic from the Lazarus pit, courtesy of Talia al Ghul, and here I am.

-Red Hood"

Everyone looked at Conner, who had a confused look on his face, for a moment and then turned their attentions back to the television screen

""Wally waved his hand at his friend, "Yeah, yeah, yeah whatever." He turned away from his daughter and to his son, "Did the wayward Robin send you anything?"

Jai grinned and showed him the box of what looked like a video game. "Yeah, this." He began to explain the game to his dad, occasionally looking over his shoulder to where Irey was supposed to be. "Dad, you might want to turn around." Wally looked up to see everyone holding back laughter.

He turned around to see that Irey and Damian were no longer there. "Where'd they go?" He asked, looking at the other party attendees.

A girl, also about sixteen with black hair and darkish skin giggled and pointed at the door, "They went outside; Damian wanted to give her his present in private."

Chris chuckled, "'Bout time too, he's been talking about nothing but this since, like, two weeks ago."

The girl laughed and nodded.

Wally, unlike the rest of the guests, who were all laughing at his poor ability to see that his daughter was clearly in a relationship, ran to the backdoor, but not before Barry grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Not so fast, kid. She is sixteen, how many relationships were you in when you were sixteen?"

Dick laughed quietly and said, "One, and it took him two months to realize she was cheating on him with the new guy." Dick nodded his head over to where Kyle was standing and he blushed.""

Dinah was the first to put the pieces together. Wally and Artemis had dated and she had cheated on him with the man she would eventually marry and have a daughter with. She didn't know whether to be happy about the two actually dating or disappointed that she had cheated on him…

"""I had no idea they were dating, keep in mind."

Wally looked at everyone, noting that none of them were rushing to go save his precious daughter, not even his wife.

"Linda, you can't possibly be happy with her," the word caught in his throat as if it were the worst word he would ever have to mutter, "dating him?"

She shrugged and looked out the window, "I don't know, Wally, she's happy and I know he'll take care of her."

Wally made an noise in the back of his throat, "But- he…He was- assassin!"

Dick rolled his eyes, "Yeah, because I haven't spent the last six years showing him that you don't have to kill, or anything."

Wally gestured at his best friend, "See, the kid has only had the 'no killing rule' under his belt for the last six years!"

"Wally, get over here and look at this!" Iris called, having had enough with her nephew.

He walked over, as slowly as he could possibly stand, and looked out the window that Linda, too, was looking out and didn't like what he saw one bit.

Damian and Irey were lying on his coat in the grass and he was pointing up at the sky, her head resting on his chest.

Linda put her hand on his shoulder and turned to begin cleaning up.

Wally looked out the window one last time, noting the smile on his daughter's face, and muttering, "I still don't like it."""

The screen went black as Barry, and almost everyone else, was shaking his head at his nephew's antics. Then again, if he ever had a daughter, he probably would like her dating either.

Bruce, however, was thinking about what Wally had said about Damian. If he truly was Talia's son there was no doubt that she would have trained him to kill. The thought that the boy had only been sired to bring havoc into his structured life began to grow.

Essence turned to Superboy, looking him in the eyes and he pointed at himself. She nodded and he thought for a moment.

He looked over at Wally. He liked the idea of seeing his family, he already knew that he would take care of a boy who was his brother, although he wasn't too sure how much they were actually related and decided he, too, wanted to see his family.

Conner looked up at Essence and spoke, "I want to see a good moment as well, something with my family." He then looked over at Superman and thought more, "That is if I have one."

Essence turned a dial once more and the blue turned into a warm light.


	5. Conner Kent

""Sun gleamed through a curtain covered window as an alarm clock blared its heinous sound waking the inhabitants of a previously silent room. A long, muscled arm reached out and hit a button bringing silence to the room once more.

The body the arm was connected to snuggled deeper into the comforter on the bed as another arm wrapped around him and pulled his head to face them.

A young blonde woman smiled at the older Conner and he grinned back leaning in to kiss her.""

M'gann stiffened slightly at this scene, why was Conner with someone who wasn't her. She looked at the clone next to her and heard he was thinking the same thing.

""The woman leaned in towards him and sighed, "Ava will be awake soon, and we should probably get up ourselves."

Conner groaned, pulled the woman closer to him and closed his eyes again, "Ava's a big girl; she can make breakfast herself."

The woman laughed and sat up pulling away from Conner, "Nice try, but I'm not letting our four year old work a kitchen herself." She got out of the bed and made her way to a door.

Conner pouted and got out of the bed glaring half-heartedly at the woman who grinned back at him and made her way out of the bedroom.""

"Whipped," Wally coughed grinning at the half-Kryptonian.

""When Conner finally made his way out of the bedroom and into a medium-sized kitchen a sight made him smile.

The blonde woman was mixing a batter in a large bowl as a small girl sat on the counter in front of her. The girl's blonde hair shined in the early morning sunlight streaming in from the window on the other side of the room. The young girl jumped down off the counter and ran to Conner who picked her up.

"Daddy!" the little girl yelled as Conner spun her around before settling her on his hip.

"Ava!" Conner said in the same tone making her laugh.

"Mommy's making waffles!" Ava said pointing to where the blonde woman was walking over to a waffle iron.

Conner grinned, "How many times have you made waffles in the last week, Cassie? Don't you think we should have something else?"

Ava shook her head sending strands of blonde hair everywhere. Cassie turned around and smiled, "Hey, blame Stephanie, she's the one who fed her when we were on that League mission."

Conner looked at Ava and back at Cassie, "That's the last time we let any member of the Batfamily baby sit."""

Dick laughed, "You let somebody from Gotham baby sit your daughter? Do you have a death wish for her?" Bruce glared at his ward half-heartedly.

Conner scowled, he highly doubted he would let any harm come to that girl.

""Cassie poured batter into the iron and closed the lid turning back to her husband and daughter, "Tim wasn't half bad when he baby sat her."

Conner laughed setting Ava down in a chair at the table, "No, but then he let Bart help him. Those two together just ask for trouble…" he said shaking his head. "It was almost like when Roy asked Dick and Wally to watch Lian!"""

Dick and Wally half glared at Conner, they highly doubted they would be bad babysitters, especially to the daughter of their best friend. Especially since they knew how much Roy had cared for his daughter before she had been killed.

""Cassie began setting the table, shaking her head at her husband, "Dick would never let any harm come to any child he was set to look after and Wally… Well, at least he now knows how to deal with children." She finished laughing.""

Wally smiled in remembrance of the twins he would have in, if Aunt Iris was correct, about two years. The thought of being a teenage father scared him, but he knew that he would have help when, if, it came to that.

""The waffle maker dinged and Cassie made to go get it when Conner picked her up and set her down away from the maker.

"No-." Cassie reached out, but Conner only lightly slapped her hand away.

"I can get it, Cass, I'm not completely incompetent when it comes to food like Ma thinks." He said smiling at an old joke.""

Clark looked at the Conner in the room and just stared. When would he meet Ma? She and Pa were the two people he most certainly did not want to find out about Conner. Well, them and Lois.

""He opened the waffle maker, picked up the single waffle and put it on a plate about to put it on the table when a great white dog jumped to reach the food.

Conner did a sort of dance with the dog jumping and soon floating into the air to avoid him. "No-ack!- down, bad, Krypto."""

Conner looked at the screen in shock. He…he was able to fly in the future? When would he get that power?

""Ava laughed, "Silly, Daddy, Krypto can fly, too!" Conner didn't join in the laughter as Cassie pulled Krypto away and put him in the backyard and set the plate down on the table.

He pointed at the waffle then at Krypto, "You better eat every bite. I had to fight for my life to put in front of you."

That made Ava laugh even harder.

After the eating had finished Conner was helping Cassie load the dishes into the dishwasher. They had been working in silence until Cassie spoke,

"You know, Clark told me Chris was playing with the younger kids a couple days ago."

Conner smiled, "Oh? And what were they playing?"

Cassie looked disappointed and whispered, "Death of Superboy."""

Everybody's eyes widened. Forget how, why would you play that?

""Conner snorted and Cassie turned and smacked him with a plate that broke on impact.

Conner looked at the remains of the plate and back at his wife and looked away, "Wrong reaction I'm assuming.

Cassie shook her head in disbelief, "They were reenacting your death! Doesn't that upset you at all?"""

The room had become deadly silent, the atmosphere was somber. How was Conner so calm about this.

""Conner pulled her into his arms and smiled, "You know what Wally told me?"

Cassie shook her head.""

"Oh, God, did Baywatch give some rare wisdom?" Artemis cracked, noticing that Wally was pointedly looking anywhere but the screen, much like most of the room. The crack, she noticed, put a small smile on his face.

"""He told me about one time the entire Flash family was gathered for some event, God bless the wives, and Bart made a joke about his death. Wally was mortified."

"Well I would hope so, poor man returned from wherever the damned speed force dropped him to find the cousin he had shipped off to be trained by someone else was dead. Along with Barry still dead, it was just enough for him to almost lose it.

"Not that you'd know this," she glared a bit, "after all, you were to busy pushing daisies."

"Just because one has died doesn't mean it has to be this big black area of avoidance, Cass."

Cassie looked at Conner and said, "If you're telling me that I should just remember everything about seeing you bloody in that crater, holding you as you died, as a joke you a sorely mistaken."""

Everybody flinched. They most certainly didn't want to think about that. What they wanted to hear, however, was when it would happen, who would cause it, and how was he alive again?

""Cassie sighed and curtly said, "You saved the world, Conner, you're back, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt to remember."

She shoved the plate at him for him to dry. He looked at her retreating figure and put a hand down to rest on Krypto's head.

"Flowers or armor this time, boy?"""

The scene faded and a note appeared on the table.

"Well, at least the first part was happy." Conner said looking at the note, wondering how to they would change the world this time.

**Author's Note:**

> So I posted this on FF.net quite awhile back and decided to post it on here as well. My name over at FF.net is Sela-Lovegood, for future references :)
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you didn't then please stick around, because I promise it will get better!
> 
> Also, I just wanted to say that, yes Jason Todd put this together, because nobody else would. I also have this time line in my mind that pretty much happens like in Earth-1 pre-reboot and has some aspects of the reboot, such as the Outlaws, Lian Harper still dies, Artemis doesn't marry Wally OR Icicle Jr. instead she marries and has a daughter with Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern), and so much more, so stick around!


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